Bailey was confident the spotlight that turned onto the Demons following their kick-after-the-siren loss to Richmond last round, did not contribute to the round-19 drubbing.
"I'd like not to think so," Bailey said after the game when asked if external pressures had taken their toll.
"What's read and said in the papers is just part of being under the scrutiny and the microscope of playing AFL footy. Whether you're a player or coach, if you're involved in the football department, you're always going to get scrutinised.
Bailey conceded he experimented again, with the likes of Neville Jetta, Shane Valenti and Nathan Jones spending time on North Melbourne captain Brent Harvey.
"We still changed players around in positions," he said.
The second-year Melbourne coach said monitoring players, developing flexibility and experience were the priorities for the rest of the season.
"Three games to go and we've still got some opportunities," Bailey said.
As for the morale among the players, Bailey said it remained upbeat despite a tough year.
"They support each other really well, they really do … they're pretty loyal with each other and very honest with each other and they certainly trust each other," he said.
"Underneath it all there are a few resilient players who are really good leaders and some of them are not necessarily our senior blokes, who have been great, but some of our younger players, who are really keen to improve."
The Demons unearthed two debutants: Tom McNamara, who was saddled with key position duties down back, and the unfortunate Rohan Bail, who hurt his quad in the warm up and could not run the injury out despite starting on the ground.
"I thought Tommy hung in there for his first game. It's always a challenge for a young player to come in and play on a tall forward," he said.
"[Bail] had his first kick of the game and they went and checked it and thought he might have nicked it," Bailey said.
"We left him running around a little bit longer to see if whether it was OK to keep playing and then the doctor said no.
"It was a bit unfortunate. You play the first five or six minutes of the game and have one kick and it's not a great game he'll look back on with too many fond memories".
